Your brand isn’t just a logo and colours. It’s not just the fonts you use. It’s your business’s whole personality. It encapsulates the experience and quality that users expect from your product or service. It’s what everyone says and thinks about your business when you’re not around. Think of the most successful companies in the world. Apple. Google. Amazon. All of them have a clearly defined personality and brand.
Branding has always been a vital part of business, but according to Forbes Magazine it is more important now than ever before: “With social media, consumers get exposed to new brands every day.” Although this is “great for consumers, who have plenty of options and are able to do research to find the best one, it makes it harder for businesses [to stand out].”
Although creating your brand can be difficult, we’ll give you five simple and actionable branding tips that you can use to create and perfect your brand with ease:
- Make a good first impression.
- Deliver excellent service.
- Create content that reflects your brand.
- Build a community.
- Engage with consumers.
1. First Impressions Count
It takes about 0.05 seconds for people to form an opinion about your website, so you want to get it right. Even just choosing the right colour can make a huge difference in how people perceive your brand. Think about Monzo’s coral or Ikea’s blue and yellow. That’s not an accident. Using a signature colour can increase brand recognition by 80%.
Indeed, the right brand logo is crucial too. It forms the foundations of your brand identity so should gra attention, make a strong and memorable first impression, and separate you from competition.
Beyond that, think about the meaning of your business name and your choice of images — and make sure they’re visually appealing to your target audience.
2. … But It’s Not All About Appearances
Think about Apple. Yes, the sleek and minimal branding is great. But their Macbooks and iPhones are better. As is the service at the Apple Store.
User satisfaction is the biggest factor behind every successful business. This means great products and great service. 96% of customers say customer service is important in their choice of loyalty to a brand, while 47% of customers say they’ll stop buying from a company if they have a subpar experience.
In short: how your business delivers its product or service is as important for your brand as the visuals.
3. Create Content That Reflects Your Brand
Content, like blogs and videos, are a great way to showcase your brand persona as you have lots of time to express yourself — the same goes for a strong social media presence. This is expected from modern consumers too, with 84% of consumers expecting brands to create content and helpful articles. Indeed, answering your audience’s questions helps you build trust, develop relationships, improve conversions, and generate more leads.
Whichever mediums you’re using, make sure your brand is consistent across the board. Consistent presentation of a brand has seen to increase revenue by 33%.
4. Build a Community
For over 50% of customers, feeling part of a brand-community is important for loyalty. Try and find a way for customers to follow your journey and become part of your mission. There are a few ways to start doing this.
- Make sure you’re active across social media – and not just to sell your services.
- State your mission clearly on your website.
- Vocally support causes that are close to your community’s heart.
- Create a regular newsletter, with topics that interest your target audience.
5. … And Engage With Them
Once you’ve started building your community, make sure you have a recognisable way to engage and interact with them — whether it’s in the comments of your social media channels, via a chat function on your website, or in store.
You can even invite your community to help you produce user-generated content. Not only will this help them feel engaged, it’s proven to be appealing to new customers. It also generates credible word-of-mouth recommendations, with 90% of shoppers reporting that UGC influences their decisions to make purchases.
To encourage user generated content, you can work with influencers, create a hashtag trend or feature your customers’ photos on your website.
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